Al-Khateeb: Rate of Foreign tourists coming for recreational purposes soars 600% in 5 years    Saudi Arabia participates in OIC anti-corruption agencies' meeting in Qatar    Saudi Arabia implements over 800 reforms to drive rapid transformation    Al-Jadaan: Painful decisions were part of the reforms, but economy overcame them    Al-Swaha: Saudi Arabia is heading towards exporting technology in the next phase    Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire appears to hold as Lebanese begin streaming back to their homes    Al Rajhi: Saudi Arabia sets revised unemployment target of 5% by 2030 "300,000 citizens employed in qualitative professions"    Imran Khan supporters call off protest after crackdown    Five survivors found day after Red Sea tourist boat sinking    Russia launched a record number of almost 200 drones toward Ukraine    Al Hilal advances to AFC Champions League knockout stage despite 1-1 draw with Al Sadd    Saudi Arabia unveils updates on Expo 2030 Riyadh master plan at 175th BIE General Assembly Riyadh Expo Development Company established to oversee strategic planning, operations, and legacy development    Saudi FM attends Quadripartite meeting on Sudan in Italy    Best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Saudi mining plays key role in industrial program
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 05 - 06 - 2016

At a sprawling complex on Saudi Arabia's northeastern Gulf coast, refineries, smelters and casting machines transform dull pink rocks into silver aluminum bars, a symbol of the kingdom's attempt to diversify its economy.
After only two years in operation, the $10.8 billion aluminum project at Ras Al-Khair, an industrial city 200 kilometers north of the oil hub of Dammam, is already the world's largest integrated aluminum facility.
And in coming years, the success of Saudi Arabia's efforts to build an economy that does not rely on oil and state subsidies will depend partly on what Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma'aden), which runs the complex, can achieve with it.
Aluminum is the company's single-largest cash generator, at SR4.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in revenue last year, and mining is a pillar of Saudi Arabia's shift away from oil. Saudi hopes are pinned on vast untapped reserves of bauxite, used to make aluminum, as well as phosphate, gold, copper and uranium.
"Ras Al-Khair city overall is really equipped to expand in so many industries, but I think the aluminum will be a major part of our future strategy," said Abdul Aziz Al-Harbi, president of Ma'aden Aluminum, a joint venture between Ma'aden and US aluminum giant Alcoa.
In April, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman made big promises for the sector as part of a broad economic reform plan.
He said mining would generate an annual SR97 billion and create 90,000 jobs within five years.
Saudi Arabia's commitment was underlined when the kingdom made the new chief of its energy ministry, Khalid Al-Falih, chairman of Ma'aden, fueling a rally in the company's stock.
The firm runs a bauxite mine at Al-Ba'itha in the central province of Qassim and makes semi-finished products such as ingots, billets and giant coils of beverage can sheet.
Exports of alumina, an intermediate substance in the production of aluminum, and more downstream industrial facilities are planned, said Harbi.
Ras Al-Khair's stark rows of interlaced pipes and cleanly paved roads are a result of vast sums spent on the city since its inception in 2008. Ma'aden's former chief told a conference last year that total spending had topped $34.6 billion.
In addition to the aluminum project, Ma'aden has a diammonia phosphate (DAP) plant at Ras Al-Khair. The two products together now account for 85 percent of Ma'aden's revenues, which totaled SR11.0 billion last year.
The facility has a port, a 2,400-megawatt power and desalination plant, and a dedicated rail line linking it directly to bauxite and phosphate mines.
Although Ma'aden Aluminum started off importing raw materials, it now uses the railway to maintain a Saudi supply chain, sourcing bauxite exclusively from Qassim.
It boasts modern environmental technologies: its own man-made wetlands for wastewater recycling, and the only used can reclamation facility in the Middle East.
Executives say that by linking minerals to top-notch processing facilities at a single location, they can keep production costs low and boost local manufacturing businesses.
"Our target is to be the lowest-cost producer in the world, which we are already approaching now," said Harbi.
Ma'aden has captured 8 percent of the world's $15 billion DAP market and 1 percent of the $90 billion aluminum market, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.


Clic here to read the story from its source.